VINE BRIDGES IYA VALLEY JAPAN

If others are as afraid of heights as I am, then photos of this amazing human accomplishment will have to sate our curiosities.  Let's virtually travel to one of the most remote places in all of Japan. 

9 hr 40 min (747.0 km)

Local people, in ancient times, built suspension bridges by weaving together vines harvested from the mountains. The bridges served as lifelines for the people living in the mountains of Japan.

To create the bridges, two tough wisteria or hardy kiwi vines were grown to extraordinary lengths from either side of the river.  When the vines were of sufficient length, they were woven together and planking was woven into them at 8 to 12 inches apart.  The original vine bridge had no sides and was so unstable that it would sway and bounce.  Some of the bridges have since been reinforced with wire and side rails, but they're still terribly scary to walk across.  There's a four and a half story drop from the planks to the water below.  

Wisdom is knowing what to do next.

Skill is knowing how to do it.

Virtue is doing it.

How in the world did they do that?